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Thursday, 20 April 2017

V. Press is very very delighted to share news of Gram Joel Davies' Bolt Down This Earth reviewed in Litter."These poems are peopled by vulnerable, troubled characters, outsiders, who project a fractured and disturbing light on what we might call ‘normality’. In ‘The Buzzing Crowd’ the natural world feels as abrasive and out-of-sync as its human protagonists – ‘Those rooks, / they’d peck your brain and pull love right / from out your sockets.’ "Davies evokes psychological states of inner turmoil via language which is estranged and troubling, yet beautifully constructed in its disaffection – ‘ Your carpet crawls like droplets on a hotplate / and the fear of tiny mouthfuls grows, exponential / to fleabites’. (from ‘Creep’). Powerful stuff indeed."From a review by Steve Spence, Litter, full review here.
BUY Bolt Down This Earth now, using the papyal link below:

Friday, 14 April 2017

We're also very very pleased to share details of the latest review of Fragile Houses by Nina Lewis.

"In this slim pamphlet, Lewis investigates all aspects of memory, its deficiencies and its glories. The tremendous warmth and descriptive power of the poet gathers us up and makes us complicit, allowing an exploration of joy, loss and sadness, without ever being overbearing. The writing is clear, precise and evocative, not given to exuberant flourishes. The poet has a beautiful intuition for the controlled breath down to the final beat of each poem, and she uses this tension to deliver some of her most poignant thoughts...

"Lewis is adept at using capitalisation to full advantage. I’ve seldom seen it used so expressly as a device. There are delightful repetitions and the occasional game with pronouns...Fragile Houses is a deft and thought-provoking debut."

Rachel Stirling, Sabotage Reviews

The full text for this considered and thought-provoking review can be found here.